With the ever-increasing popularity of staying fit, consumers are continuously searching for devices that are designed for outdoor use, but which facilitate exercises commonly practiced in an indoor gym. One popular exercise machine is the rowing machine, which exercises the arms as well as the back and legs; generally providing for a full workout. Although an active individual may use a canoe, a rowboat or a stand-up paddleboard to achieve similar exercises outdoors, it is undesirable for enthusiasts to have to pick one particular device for a particular outing.
For example, it would be desirable for a user to take a single device to a lake or the beach and use it in a variety of ways rather than having to own several types of sporting equipment. Specifically, with regards to water sports boards, enthusiast or even amateurs new to boarding sports often own several types of boards. As such, it would be desirable to provide a kit that may convert or retrofit one type of device into another type of device, without much effort thereby obviating the need for the user to purchase two types of devices.
Currently, the prior art is riddled with outdoor devices including different types of aquatic devices, rowing devices such as rowing surfboards, vessels with retractable board fins and unique looking water craft propelled by varying means. The problem with the prior art persists because each of these devices is generally highly specialized and as such can only be used for their intended purpose, and their use is limited to their intended functionality.
One example of these highly specialized devices is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,533,741 to Parkinson et al. That disclosure provides for a stand-up paddle board with left and right oars attached to left and right transmissions respectively mounted in the hull of the paddle board. The hull of the paddle board also includes a bow, stern and foot pads upon which the operator stands on. The oars pivot around an oar pivot in a longitudinal direction and paddle arms attached to the oars pivot around an arm pivot in a longitudinal direction. The paddle arms terminate in at a lower at a paddle so that when the operator urges the oars in a rearward and forward motion, the paddle arms pivot around an arm pivot and propel the paddle board. One problem with this device, and other like it, is that the oars are fixed within channels of the board such that their movement is highly restricted. Not only does this limit the range of motion that is commonly preferred for rowing exercises, but also limits the uses for the device. That is, another problem, as with other prior art devices, is that a user would have to select between this device and another device while out at the beach or a lake. Thus, it would be desirable to provide for a kit that could transform an ordinary water sports board to a rowing board such as a paddle board, with enough easy such that a user could take a single device to an outing and quickly retrofit a water sports board into a paddleboard and vice-versa with minimal effort.
Therefore, there exists a previously unappreciated need for a new and improved paddleboard kit that facilitates the functionalities mentioned above and addresses the shortcomings of the prior art. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.